WINGS – WILD LIFE LP – EXC+ UK 1971 ORIG FIRST PRESS PAUL McCARTNEY BEATLES APPLE

Wings – Wild Life
(Apple Records  1971  PCS7142)
Matrix No’s: YEX 871-11/YEX 872-1 – UK Pressing

Sleeve in Excellent+ condition
– some slight wear to edges/corners
Yellow Inner has small split in bottom

Vinyl in Excellent+ condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality apart from some light pops/crackles, first couple of minutes of side 2 is crackly)

Wings, also known as Paul McCartney and Wings, were an Anglo-American rock band formed in 1971 by former Beatle Paul McCartney with his wife Linda on keyboards, session drummer Denny Seiwell, and former Moody Blues guitarist Denny Laine. Wings were noted for frequent personnel changes as well as commercial success, going through three lead guitarists and four drummers. However, the core trio of the McCartneys and Laine remained intact throughout the group’s existence and McCartney continued playing bass and other assorted instruments, just as he had done with The Beatles.

Created following the McCartneys’ 1971 album Ram, the band’s first two albums, Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway (the latter featuring guitarist Henry McCullough), were viewed as artistic disappointments beside Paul McCartney’s work with the Beatles. After the release of the title track of the James Bond movie Live and Let Die, McCullough and Seiwell resigned from the band. The McCartneys and Laine then released 1973’s Band on the Run, a commercial and critical success that spawned two top ten singles in “Jet” and the title track. Following that album, the band recruited guitarist Jimmy McCulloch and drummer Geoff Britton, only for Britton to quit shortly afterwards and be replaced by Joe English. With the new line-up, Wings released Venus and Mars, which included the US number one single “Listen to What the Man Said”, and undertook a highly successful world tour over 1975–76. Intended as more of a group effort, Wings at the Speed of Sound was issued midway through the tour and featured the hit singles “Silly Love Songs” and “Let ‘Em In”.

In 1977, the band earned their only UK number one single, with “Mull of Kintyre”, which became the then-best selling UK single in history. Wings experienced another line-up shuffle, however, with both McCulloch and English departing before the release of the group’s 1978 album London Town. The McCartneys and Laine again added new members, recruiting guitarist Laurence Juber and drummer Steve Holley. The resulting album, Back to the Egg, was a relative flop, with its singles under-performing and the critical reception negative. During the supporting tour, Paul McCartney was arrested in Japan for cannabis possession, putting the band on hold. Despite a final US number one, the live version of McCartney’s solo single “Coming Up”, Wings broke up permanently in 1981.

Wild Life is the debut album by Wings and the third studio album by Paul McCartney since the breakup of the Beatles. The album was recorded during July–August 1971 at Abbey Road Studios by McCartney and his wife Linda along with session drummer Denny Seiwell, who they had worked with on the previous album, Ram, and Denny Laine, formerly of the Moody Blues. It was released by Apple Records on 7 December, in both the UK and US, to lukewarm critical and commercial reaction.

Track listing

All tracks written by Paul and Linda McCartney, except where noted.

Side one

1. “Mumbo” – 3:54
2. “Bip Bop” – 4:14
3. “Love Is Strange” (Mickey Baker, Sylvia Vanderpool, Ethel Smith) – 4:50
4. “Wild Life” – 6:48

Side two

1. “Some People Never Know” – 6:35
2. “I Am Your Singer” – 2:15
3. “Tomorrow” – 3:28
4. “Dear Friend” – 5:53

Personnel

• Paul McCartney – vocals, bass guitar, guitar, piano, keyboards, percussion
• Linda McCartney – keyboards, piano, percussion, vocals
• Denny Laine – guitars, bass guitar, percussion, keyboards, vocals
• Denny Seiwell – drums, percussion
• Alan Parsons and Tony Clark – engineering